The National Peace Council (NPC) has advised the media against calling results of the 2024 election before official declaration is made by the Electoral Commission (EC).
The Council said, such mandate was vested only in the EC and must therefore be respected to avoid disturbances.
“Don’t be in a hurry to declare results, the results are declared by the Electoral Commission,” Reverend Dr Ernest Adu-Gyamfi, Chairman of the Peace Council, said in an interview with the media on the sidelines of a forum organised for selected editors, in Accra, on Wednesday.
He added that “no one can go ahead and declare election results because by law, no radio or TV station is entitled to that.
“It’s the preserve of the Electoral Commissioner for the presidential and then the Returning Officers in the constituencies for the parliamentary.”
The forum, organised by the Peace Council, was to inform the media about the mandate of the NPC to enable them to adequately educate the public to sustain the peace.
Also, it was to establish relationship between the two bodies to help curb hate speech, misinformation, dis-information and mal-information in the media landscape and Ghanaian politics.
It was held on the theme: “Promoting Conflict Sensitive Reporting before during and after the 2024 general elections.”
Rev Adu-Gyamfi said the 2024 posed a significant challenge as it would test the resilience of Ghana’s democracy.
As such, he said, there was the need for every institution to play its role professionally to ensure a peaceful environment before, during and after the polls.
He charged the media to be factual in their reports to ensure a well-informed electorate.
“Let us stand united in defending the principles of democracy, promoting transparency, and empowering the electorate with accurate information.
“It is only by doing so that we can ensure that Ghana’s 2024 election is a true reflection of the will of the people,” he said.
Rev Adu-Gyamfi said, as a Council it was doing whatever it could to ensure peaceful polls come December and protect the democracy of the country.
He explained that since 2020, it had embarked on a number of activities, engaged various stakeholders, including leadership of the political parties and state institutions, such as the EC, security agencies and the court, all geared towards a peaceful poll this year and ensure that the country’s democracy was sustained.
On managing political tensions and violence ahead of the 2024 election, Rev Adu-Gyamfi indicated that the Council had set up a Political Party Trust Building Platform to promote dialogue and consensus building among the political parties and institutions of state.
“The Peace Council has set up the political party code of conduct committee to monitor the activities of the parties,” he said.
This, he said, would “free the Council” and enable it to give more attention to the over 700 cases it was currently handling.
Again, Rev Adu-Gyamfi said, the Council together with the National Media Commission and the Danish Embassy, had developed a Guideline on Hate Speech and other forms of indecent expressions to help the media to identify and prevent it to promote peaceful coexistence.
Mrs Linda Asante-Agyei, Vice President of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), stressed on the need for media practitioners to adopt conflict-sensitive reporting practices such as being factual in their reports.
This, she said, would help reduce tensions, promote inclusive participation and voter education and ensure peace and respect.
“Prioritise fact-based reporting and verifiable sources. Let us rigorously fact-check and debunk misinformation as the nation approaches the 2024 general elections,” she stressed.
To empower journalists to enable them to effectively deliver on their mandate and ensure peaceful polls, Mrs Asante-Agyei said, the GJA was undertaking the Ghana Elections 2024 Project, dubbed, Journalists for Peaceful Discourse.”
“The 12-month project, which is almost ending, is designed to uphold press freedom, freedom of expression, and professionalism,” she added.
The forum was attended by editors from both state-owned and private-owned media, newspapers, radio and TV as well as online.
GNA